Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

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A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.

27 MIN AGO

Full Show Podcast: 26 February 2026

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast 2025, Dairy NZ have unveiled their state of the dairy nation report, Federated Farmers Dairy Chair Karl Dean shares his thoughts. The Government says the control tower at Ohakea air base will soon operate 24/7, making it the country’s official back-up airport, Board of Airline Representatives of New Zealand Executive Director Cath O'Brien tells Ryan Bridge how big of a difference this will make for airlines. The Reserve Bank is asking the public for feedback on a proposal that banks must provide a minimum level of cash services, Professor at Massey University Business School Claire Matthews, shares her thoughts. Plus US Correspondent Katie Fisher has the latest on the reaction to Trump's State of the nation speech. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

34 min
30 MIN AGO

Karl Dean: Federated Farmers Dairy Chair on Dairy delivering a record year

Dairy farmers are celebrating - as the sector delivers a record year. Data from Dairy NZ's annual state of the dairy nation report, shows farmers produced an unprecedented 21 billion litres of milk in the 2024/2025 season. It's also brought the highest ever export earnings worth 27.1 billion dollars. Federated Farmers Dairy Chair Karl Dean told Ryan Bridge a lot of it comes down to herd testing to ensure Kiwi cows have the best genetics. He says as performance and profitability continue to increase - the Government gets more tax revenue. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2 min
33 MIN AGO

Ryan Bridge: Who do we believe on vaping?

There's a big puffy cloud of smoke hanging over the vaping versus cigarettes debate this week. It's all kicked off because the government's handing out free vapes to smokers to stop them getting what we know could be a death sentence. They've done a deal to buy a bunch of them for $500,000. Between last January and July, 3000 were given vaping kits and nearly half of them stopped smoking. Which, ordinarily, you would think would be a good news story. Not so for Kelly Burrowes, Auckland University Vaping Researcher. She said on Newstalk ZB that it wasn't. So I spoke yesterday to Robert Beaglehole. Yes, the Robert Beaglehole. Former boss of the World Health Organisation. Public health expert. He says some of the searches are from laboratory-based scientist with no epidemiological or public health experience and doesn't have the big picture in mind. He says one of the other antagonists to this approach clearly doesn't comprehend the evidence, because it's a mystery to why someone would oppose something that is much less harmful and cheaper. It feels a bit to me like the Covid days when you had so-called experts piping up about the harms of a disease without taking a helicopter view of the best way a society should manage such risk for the least-overall harm. There's a political element to this, too. Because we know there are certain politicians desperate to paint Casey Costello as some sort of big vape lobbyist in drag. The choice, really, if you'd call it that, seems to come down to the devil we know and devil we don't. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 min
19 HR AGO

Jeremy Stevens: Hospitality NZ Canterbury President on the impact of liquor licensing laws on the first round of Super Rugby in Christchurch

Liquor licensing mayhem for Christchurch bar owners as the opening of the new stadium nears. Super Rugby's Super Round games will be played at One NZ Stadium on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Anzac weekend. But alcohol laws mean bars must close at midnight on Friday and can't serve alcohol without a meal before 1pm on Saturday. Hospitality NZ's Canterbury President Jeremy Stevens told Ryan Bridge they've been hoping to get an exemption. But he says despite the council and Mayor Phil Mauger being on board, current legislation won't allow it LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 min
20 HR AGO

Rob Campbell: Former Health NZ Chair on the MediMap data breach

A former chair of Health New Zealand says a fix to issues within health data systems has likely been put off, after a possible hack of MediMap. The platform's widely used across the country, especially in aged care, disability, hospice, and community health. Rob Campbell told Ryan Bridge there's a lot of issues within data systems that need fixing. He says it's expensive, can be complex and isn't headline grabbing, so it's the sort of thing people put off. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 min
1 DAY AGO

Full Show Podcast: 25 February 2026

On the Early Edition with Ryan Bridge Full Show Podcast Wednesday the 25th of Feburary 2025, nurses at aged care facilities are going back to paper-based prescriptions after Medimaps data breach, Former Health NZ Chair shares his concerns. Christchurch bar owners say Anzac Day liquor laws will ‘shut the city down’ on the new stadium’s opening night, Jeremy Stevens Hospitality NZ Canterbury Branch President tells Ryan how much it'll impact bars. Pharmac's looking at funding two new Melanoma drugs, medical oncologist and Melanoma specialist Dr Gareth Rivalland tells Ryan how big of a difference the drugs would make. UK/ Europe Correspondent Gavin Grey has the latest on trade minister Chris Bryant calling Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as a "rude, arrogant and entitled man" and a baby boy has become the first child in the UK to be born using a womb transplanted from a dead donor. Get the Early Edition Full Show Podcast every weekday on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

35 min
1 DAY AGO

Dr Gareth Rivalland: Medical Oncologist and Melanoma Specialist on new Pharmac drug proposal

New treatment options for melanoma are being described as the global gold standard. Pharmac's proposing to increase access to nivolumab and ipilimumab for treating stage 3b and 4 melanoma, from May. Pre-surgery use of the immunotherapy drugs can lower the chance of cancer returning. Medical oncologist Dr Gareth Rivalland told Ryan Bridge it's state of the art treatment. He says it's the best combination and will kill off the cancer in 60% of people. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4 min
1 DAY AGO

Ryan Bridge: Businesses should be scared to take our data

This Government has made fast-track a buzzword. After yet another massive hack of private information on Sunday, it needs to put that buzzword into action and sharpen up our privacy laws. Like, yesterday. Especially if we're talking about your health information getting stolen and potentially posted online by hackers for a ransom. The hackers it seems, are pretty much a mystery and never get caught. That ship seems to have sailed, and we can, at least for now, put that in the too hard basket. But the folks we can fine, which we currently don't, are the businesses asking for our information and not doing enough to protect it in the first place. If there was ever a need for better regulation and harsher penalties, it's with cases like this - what should be your private data. In New Zealand, Consumer says there is no express penalty or fine for a breach. The Privacy Commissioner has the power to issue a fine of $10k. Yes, just $10k. And that's only if a company doesn't report a breach of tries to hide it. The Aussies will whack you with a fine of up to AU$50 million. That makes ours look like a slap with a wet bus ticket. Companies should be scared to ask for your private information because the risk of it being nicked is evidently very high. In two months, we're had the largest ever hack in our history, through Manage My Health, and now this MediMap breach. Last week I went shopping for some new clothes, a few t-shirts and some shorts. I was asked for my name and email and address. Why? A mailing list no doubt. I didn't have to provide this data, but if I did, I'd pay 10% less for the clothes. I paid full price but couldn't leave with a receipt unless I handed over my email. Businesses want our information because they can sell us more stuff, but it should be illegal to ask unless the law requires it. And if the data they do have is stolen, that should be their problem under the law. The fines ought to reflect how serious the breach is. With health, it ought to be millions. They should be scared, like with health and safety laws, to even ask for your personal information. It's not like this problem has suddenly sailed into port. That's why the legislation should be fast-tracked, bipartisan, and tough as nails. Otherwise, we can all look forward to another data breach coming to a town near you soon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3 min

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A fresh and intelligent start to your day - catch the very latest international and domestic news developments, sport, entertainment and business on Early Edition with Ryan Bridge, on Newstalk ZB.